Dawn of Hope
by FantasyIce
Summary: What if Kudō Shin'ichi was connected to the B.O. in a different way? Follow Shin'ichi and his friends through the beginning till the fall of the B.O. (starting from the beginning of the Anime and Manga)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Welcome readers to this story! Thanks for giving it a chance. This is my first time publishing something and this idea stuck in my head for a while now. My native language is German and I try to make no mistakes in spelling or grammar, but if you find some mistakes, let me know. I really would love your comments about my story, so please review – constructive criticism.**

 **I am sticking with the original romaji spelling of names and words. If I use them, you can find the translation below the chapter.**

 **Okay, on to the story! Enjoy ;-)**

 **プロローグ**

 **(Prologue)**

A single figure stood in the shadows of a tree opposite the brightly lit building – the Beika Central Hospital. In order not to be seen and recognized, the woman in her late thirties wore black cloths and sunglasses. Impatiently she glanced at her watch. It was 11:12pm. After a moment, she lifted her head and stared at the hospital building again. She was waiting for her husband to contact her.

Several minutes later, the ringing of her cell phone, yanked the woman out of her stupor. She put her black gloved fingers into her coat pocket and pulled her black cell phone out.

"Yes?" she answered the call with her rough voice.

"The boy was born two hours ago." she heard the deep voice of her husband on the other end.

"And why weren't you calling me two hours ago?"

"Amarula – darling – everything went according to the plan, despite the complications we had. That's why I call now."

"What complications?" Amarula, the woman was named, asked nervously.

"Well, you know – the boy was born two months earlier than expected. He wasn't breathing when he was born and his heart stopped a few times." he reported his wife, "But the doctor got the problem under control. His heart beats steadily and he is now on a ventilator, though the machine could breathe for him, until his lungs are fully developed and he starts breathing by himself. The doctor told her, that he expects her son's condition to keep improving."

He paused for a moment to take a breath and then finished, "That's why I'm calling two hours later."

For a long moment, neither Amarula nor her husband said a word, while they thought about everything. They had expected complications, but they didn't expect the boy to be born two months earlier and then the complications which were caused by the early birth. Their entire calculation, procedure and simulations were based on a boy, who would have been born after a nine-months-pregnancy. They calculated with a variance of two or three days, which wouldn't ruin their procedure. But two months? Amarula cleared her throat, before she started talking again. "Are you sure, that we should continue? Or should we wait a few days or maybe even weeks? It seems that the boy would stay a few weeks in the hospital, due to the complications."

"Don't worry about it. In the last two hours, I regularly checked his vitals and it looks good. His condition, indeed, has improved. You know, what we didn't include in our simulations?"

"What is it?" she asked immediately.

"His' immune system. We didn't include it in our simulations, because we thought, he would be born after nine months. We didn't expect that his immune system wouldn't function properly."

"Right, we have never thought about this problem." she admitted, sounding a bit angry about their mistakes. "Relax honey, everything's okay." he reassured her, "The simulations showed, that his not properly functioning immune system is an advantage for us."

Amarula let out her breath, which she didn't realize, she had been holding. Although her partner and husband couldn't see her, she nodded. "Then we continue?" she asked hopefully. Now it was her husband, who nodded in confirmation.

"Yes we continue."

"By the way dear, do you know that I love you?"

"I know, darling. Take Masao and Reiko with you. We will meet in the NICU. Be careful that you aren't caught, wile walking through the hospital corridors."

"Cognac! I'm not a newbie!" Amarula hissed and hung up, before Cognac had time to respond.

Then minutes later, Amarula, Reiko and Masao entered the hospital through a side entrance. The corridors were dimly lit, because in the night, the duties of nurses and doctors slowed down and the stuff was reduced. The night nurses regularly checked the patients' rooms, the ICU and the NICU. The ER was still silent, because in the last four hours no emergency was there.

It was easy for the three people, dressed in black, to get to the NICU without being seen. They entered the NICU several minutes, after they entered the hospital. About fifteen Babies lay there and were soundly asleep. Every baby in the NICU lay in an incubator, but not all were connected to a ventilator. One man in his late thirties stood next to an incubator and observed the vitals on the monitors. He nodded in satisfaction. Amarula, Reiko and Masao silently approached the man, who seemed to not notice them.

"Nice cloths, but not your colour darling; especially not white." Amarula commented and yanked her husband out of his deep observation. He turned around and looked with a raised eye brow at his wife, but said nothing. Indeed, Cognac, didn't wear black cloths like the other three; he wore red scrubs and a white lab coat. He wore the hospital cloths for the case that someone saw him and asked, if he was a stuff member.

"Is this the boy?" Amarula asked after a silent moment. Cognac turned to the boy again and nodded in confirmation. "He is so tiny and pale." she commented, without leaving her eyes from the boy. Cognac only shrugged.

"We should start, before someone comes looking after the babies." Cognac said after a moment.

"When do the night nurses come?"

"Every two hours." Cognac answered. "The last nurse went in here, a moment, before you three entered. Luckily you didn't run into her, did you?"

"No we didn't." Reiko replied, speaking for the first time, since they have entered the hospital. "Alright, let's move." Cognac ordered.

Reiko and Masao quickly and silently separated the boy from the machine and Reiko ventilated him by hand.

As quick and quiet as possible, they left the NICU with the incubator and went along the corridor to the elevators.

"Which floor?" Amarula asked when they stood in the elevator. "5th floor." Cognac answered in a low voice. Amarula nodded and pressed the right button. Then the elevator doors closed. It didn't take them a minute to get to the fifth floor. Before they stepped into the corridor, they made sure, nobody was close, though he could hear or see them. They went along the corridor and stopped in front of the door, which led to the operation section of the hospital. For a moment, they paused, to see at the right and left, if someone was to be seen or heard. But everything was quiet and though Amarula stepped forward, opened the door and let everyone else enters first. After Amarula entered the room, she closed the door quietly behind her. They now were in the preparations room.

Masao, Reiko and Amarula changed their black cloths against hospital cloths. "Which OR are we taking?" Masao asked, while putting his shirt on. "OR 4." Cognac answered briefly and determinedly.

While Reiko and Masao scrubbed their hands for the operation, Amarula and Cognac entered the OR with the incubator, which say placed next to the operating table. They laid the boy, down on the operating table and induced some narcotics into his system, though he couldn't wake up during the operation.

After they prepared the boy for their planned secretly operation, Amarula shoved the incubator at one side, though it wouldn't be in the way and left the OR together with her husband. Then, Masao and Reiko entered the OR; fully dressed in sterile operating cloths and started with the operation, while Amarula and Cognac now scrubbed their hands and prepared to enter the OR again.

"I can't believe how far we have come in our research." Amarula said impressed. Cognac nodded in agreement. "But there is actually one thing, I haven't told you." Cognac said after a silent moment, surprising his wife. She didn't expect that there was something she didn't know – especially when it was about their research. "What is it?"

"You remember the third test phase with the lab mice?" Cognac asked and continued after he received the confirming nod from Amarula, "I did the third test phase, because I changed our plan a bit."

"What do you mean; you changed our plan a bit?" Amarula asked shocked to hear her husband saying something like that. And she was angry at him, because he didn't trust her that much to tell her everything. She gave him a dark glare and he held up his hands in defeat.

"Don't worry, Darling. It's nothing, which will compromise our original plan. And there is definitely no risk of the operation being a failure." Cognac tried to reassure her, but Amarula couldn't be persuaded so easily and she definitely didn't want to dismiss her husband's actions. "Why did you do this? And what did you do?" Amarula asked curious now, because her husband didn't tell her what exactly he had changed. "Well, I can't tell you this right here, because of–" Cognac nodded with his head in the direction of Masao and Reiko, who were opening the boy's skull. "Too dangerous to tell you this here, but I thought about our project and I wanted to add an idea, which occurred to me since the meeting with the boss."

"Since the meeting with the boss?" Amarula repeated questioningly. She didn't know when her husband had a meeting with the boss. And the boss usually didn't meet with the people; usually the second-in-command did the meetings. "Can we talk about this later? The boy is more important right now." Cognac said, but received another dark glare from his wife. "We are not done Cognac!" she sharply hissed and dried her hands with a sterile cloths. A lot of this in their organization had changed since Armageddon, their boss, was murdered and was replaced by Anokata about ten and a half months ago.

"Cognac, Amarula, we are ready." Masao's voice could be heard through the speakers. Without a word, both entered the OR, fully dressed in sterile operating cloths, masks, gloves and caps. In the OR Cognac went straight to a tray on which a very small chip, some syringes and a laptop lay. He picked up the chip (of course not with his gloved hand) and went to the operating table. Cognac handed Masao the chip, which took it and placed exactly where Cognac showed him to. Then Masao's most difficult part came – he had to connect the chip, with the nerves in the boy's brain, which. Therefore, everyone was quiet; they didn't want to disturb Masao, wile he did his job. After several moments, Masao connected the first nerves, with the chip and nodded to signal that everything was still looking good. Amarula went to the tray and picked up one of the syringes, then went back to the operating table. She handed Reiko the syringe. "Inject this into the boy's brain." Amarula ordered Reiko, who took the syringe from Amarula without hesitation and obeyed. "What was it for?" Reiko asked after she laid the syringe back on the tray. "Just a drug to ensure, that the chip won't be rejected by the boy's body." Amarula casually answered, without looking into Reiko's direction.

"Aha… Is this drug just for the operation or can the chip being rejected at any time?"

"No it can't. With the drug the boy's body shouldn't reject the chip ever." Amarula answered. "But why are we implanting the chip secretly? I mean – when a doctor does a MRI or SAT, the chip will be discovered."

Cognac and Amarula took a deep breath at the same time. It was frustrating, that Reiko asked so many questions. Cognac and Amarula were the leader and superior in this research project and though had the entire knowledge of the entire project. Unfortunately, the organization forced them to work with people, who were allowed to know a little about this project or weren't allowed to know anything about it. Wile Masao was one of the few people who were allowed to know the goal and ways to reach that goal to a certain point, but Reiko wasn't allowed to know anything. Of course, the young neurosurgeon was curious about the project and had many questions and her constantly asking annoyed Cognac, Amarula and Masao.

"The chip won't be discovered." Cognac answered for his wife this time, "Our technicians developed the chip. The chip will blend in with the boy's brain –"

"Like a chameleon?" Reiko interjected. "Exactly my point."

"Can the chip be removed at all?"

"No." Cognac simply said, without adding and explanation.

"What does the chip do? I mean, why are we implanting the chip anyway?"

"Shut up!" Cognac said sharply to Reiko, who just stared with a mixture of surprise and shock at Cognac. "You are already asking too much questions and you aren't even allowed to know anything. We told you enough and now shut your mouth."

Reiko went next to Masao again, to assist him; without saying one word, but she angrily glared at Cognac, who ignored Reiko completely.

Half way through the difficult task Masao noticed a movement. For a moment, he thought, Cognac, Amarula or Reiko just changed places, but then Masao figured out, what the movement was. The boy started to wake up! He was horrified about that thought; he not only could make a mistake and damage the boy's brain, but also the boy could start screaming in pain and would attract unintentional attention outside. But before Masao could say a word, the boy started clinking. After a few times, he opened his azure blue eyes completely.

"What's going on?" Cognac, Reiko and Amarula asked shocked at the same time, when they noticed, the boy's movement.

"Reiko, don't keep standing and staring! Give him a second dose of the narcotics!" Masao quickly demanded. But Reiko didn't move. For a moment no one moved; they just stared at the moving boy. He didn't scream, but turned his head left and right as far as he could under these circumstances. It looked like he took the scene in, but no one believed, the boy would really understand, what they were doing with him. But the boy tried to get away from Masao, which caused Masao to yell at Reiko, though she would finally give the boy another dose of narcotics. Then, Reiko moved and took one of the syringes from the tray, while Amarula held the boy in a tight grip, but the boy didn't want to lye still on the operating table. Everyone sighed in relief, when Reiko injected the dose of narcotics and the boy's eyes closed a moment later. They waited a moment, to be sure, the boy finally was unconscious again; only then Masao continued his process.

"Is everything still looking good?" Cognac asked nervously. He didn't want to stop in the middle of their actions. "Well–" Masao said, concentrating on looking at the chip, "-due to the chip slightly getting out of place, some connections loosened. But I can fix it."

"Shouldn't take too long." Masao added confidently. Cognac nodded in understanding. And Masao was right. Several minutes later, he fixed the connections, which has been loose and then went on with his work. It took him another ten minutes, until he was finished for a moment.

"Alright, I am ready." Masao told Cognac.

He nodded and went to the tray, opening his notebook, which stood on the table and had been in standby-modus the entire time. Cognac opened a program and started configuring the chip. Reiko observed and told Cognac the boy's vitals, while Amarula gave her husband some parameters, which he had to configure and ad into the program. "I'm done. Masao you can finish the operation." Cognac ordered the neurosurgeon, which nodded and checked his work, before he finished the operation.

Before they left the operation section, they put everything back, where it belonged, though no one would get suspicious. They didn't leave the slightest evidence in the operation section, which could confirm, they had been there. That's how the operation worked; whatever your mission was, the organization gave you, you do it quickly, silently and leaving no traces behind, which could lead to you or the organization.

"Someone coming?" Amarula asked Reiko, who looked around the corner. She shook her head. "No one's coming. "Way's clear." Reiko said. Hurriedly all four went to the elevator. Amarula was holding the boy, because, they didn't put the boy back into the incubator. They checked his vitals and breathing, to make sure, they made the right decision. And they gladly noticed, that the boy breathed on his own now, although they were slightly surprised to notice, that the boy's lungs fully functioned now, despite the fact that the boy's lungs weren't fully developed yet. But they hadn't enough time to figure out what the reason for this was. Though it wouldn't be noticeable that the boy went through a brain operation, they bandaged the boy's head and put on a cap, though the bandages wouldn't be noticeable as well.

The four took the elevator and a moment later, they were at the basement. They hurriedly crossed the ER and went in the direction of a side entrance, but the boy suddenly started to cry.

"Calm him down." Cognac demanded. Amarula tried her best to comfort the boy and whispered soothing words into his ear. But it didn't work. "I told you to calm him down. He will attract attention."

"I tried okay! By the way, why don't you try it, if you know everything better than me?" Amarula hissed angrily. "Shall I try?" asked Reiko and opened her arms to take the boy from Amarula. But Reiko was as successful as Amarula was some moments ago. Cognac abruptly stopped; though suddenly, that Amarula and Reiko almost bumped into him. "Gosh, can't you warn us?!"

Cognac angrily glared at his wife. "Do something! He will betray us any moment!" Cognac hissed, ignoring his wife's comment. "Maybe–" she hissed in annoyance, "-you should try to calm him down. You are a father, you should know, how to do it."

Amarula handed Cognac the crying baby, but Cognac pressed the boy into his wife's arms again. "And you are our daughters' mother. You know what to do best."

"Excuse me? Can I help you somehow?" a voice behind Cognac asked politely. Cognac turned around and the other three stared at the corner, from where the person came. It was a doctor, which was evident because of his cloths. He stepped closer to the four people and looked at the boy in Amarula's arms.

"Ah… um… that isn't really necessary. We are just keeping from treating people, who are needing medical attention more than our son. He is just –"Cognac started to explain, but had to trail off, because he was lost for an excuse.

"-he is just tired, but couldn't sleep. We thought it would help him, if we walk with him a little while." Amarula interfered and tried to sound convincing, but the doctor eyed them suspiciously. "Are you sure? May I check? Just to be sure that everything is alright with your son."

"I told you it's not necessary Dr. –"

"Umazaki – Dr. Umazaki"

Dr. Umazaki nodded, but didn't seem to be convinced. And he wasn't. "Maybe he is hungry or you need to change him." Dr. Umazaki suggested.

"Maybe-" Amarula agreed briefly.

"What's your son's name?" Dr. Umazaki asked then. A bit surprised and nervous, the four looked at the doctor. They were sure, that he didn't believe them and they had to get away, before they would attract more attention to other people.

"Um… his name is Yukio." Amarula answered hesitantly, which was noticed by Dr. Umazaki. "Alright. But the visitation hours are long over. Maybe, you want to leave the hospital now and I take you and your son to your room." Dr. Umazaki ordered. The doctor started walking, while pulling out his phone and dialled a number. "I wouldn't say something." Cognac said pressing the riffle of his gun into Umazaki's back.

"You aren't the boy's parents right? And his name isn't Yukio." Umazaki said, holding his phone a few inches away from his ear. "A very good conclusion sensei. My friends and I will go now and we are taking the boy with us." Cognac told the doctor. Umazaki slowly raised his hands in defeat like anyone would do. He held his phone still in his hand. "Why are you kidnapping the boy?"

"It's not your business!" Cognac hissed. "You won't get out of this hospital." Dr. Umazaki assured them, but all four just snorted in disbelief. "We are almost out of the hospital and no one is going to stop us."

"Umazaki-sensei I called the security team!" Nurse Hitomi, who heard everything, Cognac and Umazaki said through the phone, said and rounded the corner.

"No Hitomi, don't come closer! Get away! Run!" Umazaki shouted. But it was too late. In only seconds, the bullets hit Dr. Umazaki and Nurse Hitomi. With shocked and surprised eyes, both fell to the ground; dead. Both were dead, lying motionless on the ground.

"Hey are you guys crazy?!" a patient shouted angrily. He stuck his head out of his hospital room. He wanted to know what was going on, because the turmoil on the corridor and the loud baby cries woke him up.

"Here are sick people trying to rest! And you have nothing else to do but shooting in a hospital?!"

"I hope you get harsh punishment!"

"Get away!"

"Hey, don't hurt this poor baby!"

More patients, who were woken up, stuck their head out of the doors. They cursed and shouted angrily at the four kidnapers. "Great! Now we are in the situation, we tried to avoid." Amarula hissed angrily. But before Cognac could argue back, Masao spoke up, "Shouldn't we move, though we won't get caught?"

"Right." everyone agreed and stepped over the two dead bodies and run along the corridor. The angry patients called after them and woke more patients up. Before Cognac turned around the corner, he aimlessly fired back, though the patients dug into their rooms again.

But they didn't get too far from the corridor, where Cognac shot Dr. Umazaki and Hitomi. And the side entrance was still two corridors away. But six security guys surrounded them.

"Stop! Drop your gun to the ground!" one of the security guys, who stood before the four kidnapers, ordered them. However, Cognac didn't move. He was deep in thoughts, what they could do now. But every idea, he had, was dismissed immediately, because it wouldn't work and he didn't want to get the boy hurt. He had to admit to himself, that he was lost for a plan now. Amarula and Cognac looked around; there was no way out, because the six security guys stood in a circle around them, blocking every direction, they could possibly go and aiming at all four. And another problem was that Masao and Reiko didn't have any guns or other weapons, because they were neurosurgeons and would never work as a field agent. That meant, he and Amarula were the only ones, who had guns; however, Amarula held the boy in her arms and would probably be shot, when she attempted to put out her gun. Although Cognac didn't believe, that one of the security guys would shoot Amarula, because they would risk the boy's life. What to do now?

"Drop the gun and hand the boy to one of my colleagues." the security guy from earlier ordered. But all four didn't move.

"This is the last warning." another security guy said sharply.

"I repeat it once more. Drop your gun and hand the boy over to one of us." the first security guy said firmly again. Cognac knew, they had to do something and they had to do it quick. But what? Cognac raised his gun and pressed against the boy's head. "If you-"he emphasized the word 'you', "-don't drop your guns, I will kill him."

"What?" asked Amarula shocked and stared at her husband. How could he?

"Are you out of your mind? This wasn't planned-" Amarula said angrily, but was silenced by a dark glare of her husband. Cognac hoped his wife would understand what he tried to do. And after a moment of thinking, she briefly nodded, when she came to the same conclusion as he did. The security guys didn't notice Amarula nodding, but they also concluded what Cognac tried to get all four of them out of this situation. Unfortunately, the security team could only follow the kidnapers' order, because they didn't want to risk endangering the boy more than he already was. With one nod of the leader of the security team, the other five dropped their guns; the leader was the last one, who dropped his gun.

"Good – very good – And now, you two-" Cognac pointed with his gun to two security guys, "-step aside to the wall and turn around."

Of course, the two men did what Cognac demanded of them. They stepped to the wall, opening an escape way for the kidnapers, and turned around, though they faced the wall. While Cognac stilled aimed at the now quiet boy, Amarula handed him to Reiko. "Ah, ah, ah, you don't want me to kill the baby, do you?" Cognac said bittersweet, when he noticed two men bending down to take their guns again. But they quickly stepped aside, raising their hands again in defeat, though everyone could see, that they didn't have a gun in their hands. Mentally they cursed, that they were caught by their attempt. When Reiko held the boy securely in her arms, Amarula put out her gun and aimed at the security guys too.

"Alright then – it's time to say goodbye my friends." Cognac said in a happy voice. The four turned around and Cognac pushed Reiko before them, though if the security guys would take their guns again, they would directly aim at Reiko and the boy. The four slowly went backwards. "I wouldn't recommend you guys, following us. You don't want to kill the baby, do you?" Cognac warned them.

They slowly rounded the corner and when Amarula noticed, that the two security guys, who stood face-forward to the wall, wanted to turn around and pick up their weapons, she shot them in the back and both fell instantly dead to the ground. The other security guys didn't dare to follow them. They ran along the corridor, turned around another corner and then ran along another corridor. They could already see the side entrance, where they would thankfully get tout of the hospital. But they forgot something; a little detail, which was however very important.

"Ouch!" Cognac shouted and let his gun drop. Amarula immediately stopped and looked at her husband, who held his hand. Blood was running down his hand. He was shot. She quickly saw another security guy and shot him. But then another bullet riffled through the air and injured Amarula's shoulder. Both, Amarula and Cognac, knew that they had lost now. But before they were going to be arrested, they would escape. Both scientists figured that they somehow would find the boy again and then they would take him with them. But for now, they had to think about themselves. Though, they dug behind a bush and quickly moved away from the scene, without being seen, while they heard, how the security team arrested Reiko and Masao.

"Shit! That went all wrong at the end!" Cognac loudly cursed ten minutes later, when they sat in their black car and were on the road again. While Cognac was angry about the situation, Amarula just sat silently in the passenger side. Before they started their car, they treated their injuries as good as they could with a first-aid-kit. "Why are you so calm? Don't you understand what we lost today?"

"Of course I do!" Amarula shot back, now getting angry herself.

"And what now?"

"We will find him again." Amarula confidently answered, causing Cognac to look surprised and incredulously at him.

"How?"

"Vermouth." Amarula said just this word; nothing more. And although Cognac had a few questions, he dared not to ask them, because his wife's look told him not to and he guessed, that she would explain everything once they were back in their lab.

Megure Jūzō was police officer of the Tōkyō Metropolitan Police Department, Division 1 and investigated the case together with his superior Fujikawa Akaya. But the investigation turned out to be complicated in much different ways. Another doctor examined the boy after the security guy, who took the boy in his arms, went inside the hospital again. Although the doctor saw the boy's head wound, he found nothing on the CT picture, which made everyone curious, including the two investigators. The doctor wanted to observe the boy closely, before discharging him, because he wanted to be sure that the boy's brain wasn't damaged. And luckily it wasn't.

Reiko and Masao of course, were arrested from the police officers in the same night. Both said nothing during their interview and on the way to prison, both committed suicide, leaving Megure and Fujikawa with more questions than answers behind. Amarula and Cognac couldn't be detected, though the investigators wanted to prevent the boy of another kidnapping attempt and stationed police officer in the hospital during the boy's hospital stay.

Another mystery was Kurosawa Ayame. Kurosawa Ayame, who gave birth to the boy, discharged herself thirty minutes after the police informed her, of the kidnapping attempt. She left a short note behind, stating she was only the 'surrogate mother' and that the police should call the boy's birth parents, who turned out to be a young married couple of twenty and twenty-one years of age. And another surprise for Megure was that he knew the couple personally. That made everything more personal to the plump police officer, who always wore grey trousers, a white shirt with black tie under a brown trench coat. Matching to his brown coat, he wore a hat of the same colour.

Of course, the police tried to find Kurosawa Ayame, but they couldn't find her and moreover, they found out, that Kurosawa Ayame didn't exist. Another puzzle for the police without the right answers, and there was one more question without an answer: Why did someone (whoever it was) delete every information about the boy? There existed no medical file anymore, except the birth certificate, which the hospital gave the birth parents of the boy. But sometime after the boy was discharged, someone deleted every medical file and information about the boy. Why and who did this? But again, the police couldn't find an answer for their questions.

After about four months of investigation, the case got closed, although Amarula and Cognac weren't found. The boy luckily was healthy and his brain wasn't damaged, therefore, he could leave the hospital five weeks after the kidnapping attempt. During the next three months, a police car more often passed the house of the little family, but nothing happened. No further attempt to kidnap the boy was made. Megure and Fujikawa were clueless, but had to accept it and closed the case.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for everyone who followed, read and/or reviewed! I am sorry for the long wait; life kept me busy and then I wasn't satisfied with the chapter, so I rewrote it several times.**

 **PipeDReam: Yes, but the discovery will be slow for the first few chapters**

 **ZeroXYami: Thank you so much** **Yeah, it's about Shin'ichi**

 **Elliechii: Thanks! I hope you like this chapter too.**

 **Side Note: When I looked up the school system in Japan, I read that the term is starting in April. So Ran, Shin'ichi and Sonoko will be fifteen in this chapter.  
**

 **Used Japanese words:**

 **Ohayō – good morning**

 **Konnichiwa- hello**

 **Otōsan – dad**

 **Keibu – Inspector**

 **Keiji – Detective (police officer)**

 **Now on to the chapter! Enjoy reading ;-)**

 **PipeDReam: Yes, but the discovery will be slow for the first few chapters**

 **XeroXYami: Thank you so much** **J** **Yeah, it's about Shin'ichi**

 **Brittni: Thanks! I hope you like this chapter too.**

 **Thanks for everyone who followed, read and/or reviewed! I am sorry for the long wait; life kept me busy and then I wasn't satisfied with the chapter, so I rewrote it several times.**

 **Side Note: In Japan the school year starts in April. I looked it up and that's why Shin'ichi, Ran and Sonoko are 15 years old in this chapter.**

 **Used Japanese words:**

 **Ohayō – good morning**

 **Konnichiwa- hello**

 **Otōsan – dad**

 **Keibu – Inspector**

 **Keiji – Detective (police officer)**

 **Now on to the chapter! Enjoy reading ;-)**

平成のホームズ

(Heisei Holmes)

A loud shot echoed in the air and especially in the ears of the six year old Kudō Shin'ichi. Naoko stared shocked with her wide hazel brown eyes at the preschooler, before her eyes closed and she fell lifeless to the ground in front of Shin'ichi's feet. A large puddle of blood formed beneath her body and her cloths were (especially on her chest, where her heart was) drenched in red blood. The smell of the metallic blood reached Shin'ichi's nose. He stared with his wide eyes shocked at Amutako Naoko. For a moment everything was silent. Then Shin'ichi kneeled down to the twenty-four year old woman, shaking her roughly to get her awake. "Naoko, get up! You have to get up!"

Also Shin'ichi knew no one could help Naoko, because she was already dead, he didn't stop trying. Shin'ichi was too focused on Naoko to hear the heavy footsteps behind him. Suddenly a man grabbed the boy from behind, pulled him onto his feet and dragged him away from the young woman, who he had shot a moment before. "Let me go! Help! Help me please! Someone help me!" Shin'ichi shouted again and again. He tried to free himself from the tight grip and was partly successful. The man, dressed in black, almost lost his grip on the boy's arm, if not two other men (also dressed in black) came and helped him. One six year old boy against three men wasn't only unfair, but also impossible for Shin'ichi to defend himself.

The three men dragged the rebellious boy along a neon lit hallway, which smelled after disinfection drugs. The smell made Shin'ichi sick. He knew the way too well and didn't want to go with them. But he couldn't do much. One of the men had pointed a gun right in front of his face, ready to shoot, when Shin'ichi would try to escape them.

They stopped before the last door of the hallway. One of the men opened it and tossed Shin'ichi inside. The boy fell on his knees and turned his head around. He couldn't see the men's faces. He only saw an evil smirk, but in the next moment the man closed the door, before Shin'ichi could get up and try to get out of the room. Shin'ichi slowly got to a sitting position leaning his back onto the door behind him. The click behind him indicated the door was locked.

The room was pitch-black and so he couldn't see anything. But he knew exactly where he was. It wasn't the first time these men tossed him in there. His surrounding and the death silence made the boy uncomfortable. He heard his own heavy breathing and he was certain that he could hear his heart beating faster than usual. His stomach tightened, when he thought about what was going to come. The more minutes passed, the more he felt uncomfortable and dizzy.

Footsteps echoed in the death silence, indicating people were coming. A door opposite of the door, Shin'ichi leaned on, opened. Shin'ichi only looked for a moment up without lifting his head to confirm the person's identity.

Suddenly Shin'ichi heard a shrill beep, followed by a loud boom. The fifteen year old teen threw his eyes open and quickly got to a sitting position. The shrill beep of his alarm clock told him it was 06:15am; time for him to get up, because it was Monday April 1st and that meant a new school year started today.

Shin'ichi took several deep breaths to bring his breathing and heart beat back to normal. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair. Another loud boom came from outside. Shin'ichi quickly jumped out of bed, crossed the room and stepped onto his balcony. His neighbor Professor Agasa Hiroshi laid on his belly in his front garden; a large hole in his wall. Obviously another invention went wrong and exploded. Usually Shin'ichi would yell at his neighbor, because of the loud noise in the morning, but today it didn't matter. The teen was relieved that he was woken up from his nightmare.

"Everything okay, Hakase?" Shin'ichi shouted, leaning a bit more over the balcony railing. Agasa got to his knees and lifted his thumb up to show his young neighbor that he was fine. Agasa only had a few scratches in his face and a black eye. "I am fine! Don't worry Shin'ichi!"

Agasa slowly got to his feet. "See you later!" with that Agasa disappeared through the hole inside his house. Shin'ichi grinned and shook his head, while stepping inside his room, closing the balcony door in the process. Shin'ichi then grabbed his school uniform and went into his bathroom. He wasn't surprised or shocked to see his tired reflection. It had been a restless night for him, but it wasn't the first restless night of his life and Shin'ichi didn't think much about it. He undressed and stepped into the shower; a warm shower not only relax his body and nerves, but also waking him up.

About thirty minutes later, Shin'ichi stepped out of the shower and dried himself, before dressing in his school uniform, which consisted of navy blue dress pants, a white shirt with olive green tie and a navy blue jacket. After he left the bathroom, Shin'ichi went downstairs into the kitchen and made a cup of coffee for himself. He then went outside to pick up the morning paper from the mailbox.

While drinking his coffee, Shin'ichi overlooked the newspaper, just reading some of the headlines, but there was nothing that interested him. Another reason was his nightmare, which was still fresh in his mind. It wasn't his first nightmare and probably wouldn't be the last. The nightmares (or nightmare – it was always the same) started about two years ago, after Megure had brought him back to his parents. The nightmare came regularly, but since six months, the nightmare came only now and then and Shin'ichi was glad about it, although he wished, the nightmare would finally disappear. It was always the same: Naoko got shot and he was dragged and tossed into the pitch-black room. But usually the dream went further until he would wake up. The worst thing about his nightmare was, that he knew, it really happened. The teen sighed, trying to push the thoughts of his nightmare into the back of his mind.

When he had finished his cup of coffee, he cleaned it and went upstairs again to grab his backpack. The first school day wouldn't last so long and he didn't need much for this day, so his backpack was much lighter than the rest of the school year. Shin'ichi quickly went downstairs when he heard the bell chime at quarter past seven. His childhood friend Mōri Ran was waiting for him. She insisted in going to school fifteen minutes earlier than usual. She wanted to have enough time finding their lockers, classroom and all sort of stuff like that. Shin'ichi and Sonoko, Ran and Shin'ichi's best friend, unwillingly agreed to that. They didn't want to get to school earlier than they needed to be, but Ran could be very persuasive if she wanted.

"Ohayō Shin'ichi." Ran greeted her best friend joyfully. Shin'ichi mumbled only an 'Ohayō' behind his hand, because he yawned. "Late night reading, huh?"

Shin'ichi nodded relieved. He mentally thanked Ran for giving him an excuse for his tiredness. He was known for his late-night-reading and though it wasn't suspicious, when he was tired in the morning, especially when he was a sleep-in-person. Also he knew, he could tell Ran about his nightmare, he knew, she would be worried and Shin'ichi didn't want her to worry about him. She already had to worry about him for a long time. Like Shin'ichi, Ran wore her school uniform; but instead of pants, she wore navy blue skirt, which ended several feet above her knees.

"Come on Genta! Or else, we will be late!"

"Hurry up Genta! It's our first day at school! We don't want to be late!"

Three kids between six and seven passed the two teens. Ran smiled at the three preschooler; remembering her, Sonoko's and Shin'ichi's first day at school. The taller boy with short black hair and a few freckles pushed the plump boy, while the young girl with black shoulder-length hair and a white hair band, pulled her friend by his arm.

"They remind me of us three, when we were in that age." Ran said nostalgia evident in her voice. Shin'ichi silently nodded. He too remembered that free and innocent time, before his life changed drastically – and not for the better. He didn't like to be reminded of the easy innocent time; he only liked to remember the day at kindergarten, where he met Sonoko and Ran, because this was a special day for him.

At a traffic light, the three kids and two teens stopped, waiting for green to cross the street. "Hey! Wait for me!" a familiar voice shouted to Ran's left. Shin'ichi and Ran turned their heads and saw Suzuki Sonoko running towards them, waving with her free hand.

"Ohayō you two!"

"Morning." Ran and Shin'ichi said in unison. The six year old girl looked behind her, which didn't go unnoticed by Shin'ichi. As soon as their gazes met, her cheeks slightly reddened and she quickly turned her head to the front, whispering into her friends' ears.

"Do you think our new class teacher will be a man?" Sonoko asked. Shin'ichi rolled his eyes in annoyance, while Ran chuckled. That question had to come from Sonoko. "I hope he is tall, handsome, good looking…"

Sonoko folded her hands before her and looked dreamily into the distance.

"Did I miss something? I thought she had a boyfriend. What happened to Makoto?"

"Don't you remember? Makoto is studying in Europe." Ran said nonchalantly.

"Guess I forgot that."

When the red light changed to green, all six quickly crossed the street. The preschoolers then turned left, while the high school students went straight ahead. They reached Teitan High School five minutes later at quarter to eight. In the foyer all students were gathered in front of the black board, where the class lists hung. A great scramble and shoving arose, because everyone wanted to have a look at the lists to find out in which class and class room he was. The three teens also rushed into the fray. A moment later Shin'ichi caught a glimpse of the lists and went out of the large crowd, but there was another crowd which surrounded him. Some fans, especially girls, surrounded them and asked him for autographs, pictures or if he wanted to go out with one of them. Ran and Sonoko were a bit off the small crowd which encircled Shin'ichi. Ran threw a dark glare into the direction of a brown haired girl, which was one year younger than her and Shin'ichi. The girl asked Shin'ichi straight forward, if she could be his girlfriend. "Jealous?" Sonoko asked, noticing Ran's dark glare. Ran closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again and looked to her best friend, a bright smile on her face. "No, why should I? Shin'ichi and I aren't together. He can go out with anyone and he definitely can have every girl as his girlfriend. So, why should I be jealous?"

But Sonoko wasn't convinced. She knew Ran for quite a while. Although Ran had never freely admit, that she was in love with Shin'ichi, Sonoko often noticed her jealousy, when other girls were close to Shin'ichi, or the way Ran looked at Shin'ichi, when his attention was somewhere else and he didn't notice Ran. Sonoko always noticed the way Ran cheered up, when Shin'ichi was around. Also Ran and Shin'ichi got into some fights, because both were equally stubborn, Sonoko always had to think about a saying, she had heard somewhere. Who loves each other, who teases each other – or so.

"You can admit it; you want to be the girl, who just asked him to be her boyfriend, didn't you?"

Ran shook her head. Deep down, she and Sonoko knew, Sonoko was right, but Ran would never admit it voluntarily. "I have to go now… Don't wanna be late…" they heard Shin'ichi tell the others and he stumble over to the girls. He sighed, when he was next to Ran and Sonoko. When he was younger, Shin'ichi didn't mind the attention, but after the incident, large crowds made him uncomfortable. Having Ran and Sonoko around was more comfortable for Shin'ichi. However, since his first case, he solved aboard a plane, the media became more and more interested in him and therefore, people started gathering around him for various reasons. Especially his classmates and teenagers in his own age were annoyingly clinging to him.

"In which class are we?" Ran asked after a silent moment, while they went upstairs. "Class 12B in room 316."

Most classmates already found their way into their class room. They were gathered in small groups, mostly their friends, and talked about their vacation, movies they have lately seen in cinema or on TV, video games, they were playing and all that stuff. Shin'ichi, Ran and Sonoko found three seats in the last row and quickly sat down; Ran in the middle, Shin'ichi left from her next to the window and Sonoko on the right. "Hey Ran, when is karate training starting?" Chikage, a member of the karate team asked. "I don't know yet. It depends on the timetables of everyone and other things. After the first meeting, I can tell you more." Ran answered. She was the captain of the girls' karate team of Teitan High School and all sorts of organization fell into her part. Luckily she had a second-in-command, which was a girl named Sonehara Tomoko from the parallel class.

"Good Morning Boys and Girls!" a cheery female voice greeted the class a moment later. A few growls went through the students, when they recognized the English language and guessed, that their new teacher taught English.

The bell rang at eight o'clock. The new teacher, who was taller than average Japanese women and had blonde short frizzy hair, stepped behind her desk and put out a few papers and books from her bag. She wore a violet skirt and a black blues under her violet blazer and black round glasses were sitting on her nose.

"Hello everyone, my name is Jodie Saintemillion. I am your new class teacher. I was born in the US and lived there until three weeks ago. Please forgive me, when my Japanese isn't perfect as yours." she told her new class and looked into the ground. Jodie handed everyone a timetable and went back to her desk. "Alright, before I forget… In four weeks a kendo tournament is taking place here in our gym. Students from other schools will be participating and I hope you treat them respectfully and welcomed. Is there anybody in this class, who wants to participate?"

Everyone shook his head. Jodie nodded and looked at the next point on her list. "There is a list of after-school-activities, in which you can participate. The list is hanging on the black board down in the foyer."

Then they got their new school books and Jodie talked about other things, like important exams, they had to do throughout the year, she told them about the excursions and school trips, they would go on and she talked about what was important in her lessons. She also mentioned a few other things, like fire alarm practice. When she was done with her list and no one else asked any further questions, she started to repeat the English basics from last year, to everyone's dismay.

Luckily for all students, twenty minutes later, the bell chimed and announced the end of the school day. "Very well, look up the basics from last year by yourself. Tomorrow we will start with our new topic." she said, before dismissing her class. Ran, Sonoko and Shin'ichi threw their things into their school bags and left the class rooms.

The following three weeks were quiet. The afternoon lessons would start in the fourth week, because teacher and class conferences would take place in the afternoon.

On Friday afternoon of the third week, Ran and Shin'ichi went to the detective agency of Ran's father. They had spent the last three hours with Sonoko at the mall. Sonoko wanted to try a new café and didn't want to go alone.

"Um… Shin'ichi, when are we going?"

"Going? Where should we go? We are at the agency."

Ran rolled her eyes. Shin'ichi knew exactly what she was talking about. She sighed. "I mean the promise you gave me a year ago, after we left the Beika Aquarium."

"Hm…"

"I promised me we would go to Tropical Land when I won the city tournament!"

"Oh that promise." Shin'ichi sheepishly grinned. Ran gave her best friend a dark glare and kicked after him, but Shin'ichi dug away in the right moment. "Kudō Shin'ichi! You are unbelievable!"

"A new client! I have a new client hahaha!" Kogorō shouted happily and went down the stairs. Half way down the stairs, Kogorō stumbled over his feet, because he looked up and promptly fell down. Shin'ichi and Ran jumped out of the way, before the detective would knock the two teens down. Kogorō himself fell hard onto the ground. "Is everything alright Otōsan? Did you hurt yourself?" Ran immediately asked concerned. Kogorō quickly got to his feet. "I have a new client Ran-chan." he told them joyfully and waved though a cab would stop by. "Could be late!"

When a cab stopped, Kogorō climbed in. Ran and Shin'ichi exchanged a confused look. Both teens also climbed into the cab, while Kogorō told the driver the address. "Hey, what are you two doing here?!" Kogorō asked several minutes later, when he finally noticed Ran and Shin'ichi. "You are distracting me on my case! Get out!"

Shin'ichi rolled his eyes. "Otōsan! We are not going to jump out of the car window in the middle of the highway!" Ran protested, which made Kogorō go silent again.

Forty-five minutes later, Kogorō, Ran and Shin'ichi arrived at their destination. Kogorō rang the bell and only a moment later, a young man, about twenty-five years of age, opened the door.

"What? Who are you? What do you want?" the man asked grumpily.

"Hello, my name is Mōri Kogorō. I want to speak to Tanaka Daisuke. Is he here?"

"Mōri Kogorō? Never heard that name before. Why do you want to speak to my Dad?"

"Yamato, why don't you invite our guests inside?" a deep voice said. An older man pushed Yamato softly aside and stepped forward. "Konnichiwa, Mōri-san. Thank you for coming. I am Tanaka Daisuke. Please come in." Tanaka said and stepped aside, to let the three enter the house. "Konnichiwa Tanaka-san. I hope you don't mind, I brought my daughter Ran…"

"Hello Tanaka-san." Ran said, bowing her head in a greeting manner. "…and…"

"Kudō Shin'ichi." Shin'ichi simply stated and bowed his head, like Ran before. "Ah Kudō Shin'ichi… great, great… Good choice Mōri-san – to bring the young high school detective with you. I am sure; you two will be able to help me with my problem."

Kogorō looked a bit annoyed and grumpy at Shin'ichi, because he quickly climbed into the cab, forcing Kogorō to take him and Ran along. Since Shin'ichi became a well-known detective himself, it always was the same, when he and Kogorō were somewhere. People recognized Shin'ichi immediately and trusted the teen to solve every case. But when it came to Kogorō, people didn't seem to know or recognize him as a private detective and that made it hard for Kogorō to get any assignments, because everyone wanted Shin'ichi to help solve a case. Therefore, he didn't like to have Shin'ichi around him, but the teen detective and his daughter always hung out together and that made it hard for him to go to a client without having Shin'ichi around.

After they changed shoes, Daisuke led the three into his office. Tanaka sat behind his desk, while Kogorō sat opposite of Tanaka. Ran sat down on the chair next to her dad, Shin'ichi kept standing. "Tanaka-san, please…"

"Call me Daisuke please."

Kogorō nodded and began again, "Daisuke, please tell me about the assignment". Daisuke nodded, concern was evident in his face. "It's about my wife Sumiko. She is being stalked since four weeks now." Daisuke explained. Kogorō nodded, while processing everything Tanaka told them. "It started with calls in the middle of the night. At first the phone just rang once each night for a week, then it rang more often and when I answered the phone, the caller hung up. But when my wife answered the phone, she heard wheezing. And then someone send her flowers every day, every time, a card stating she will become his and she should leave her husband, if she don't she would regret it".

"Can your wife tell, if the caller is a man or a woman?" Shin'ichi asked, but Tanaka shook his head. "Were the flowers the only thing she got from the caller?" Kogorō asked. Daisuke shook his head again. "No, she got expensive cloths – partly sexy cloths -, expensive Pralines, jewelry…"

Daisuke again shook his head. "Sumiko is now to afraid to leave the house alone or even staying here alone. We can't sleep either, because every night the phone rings. We asked the police for help, but they couldn't find the stalker so far". Daisuke sounded desperate. "Please, Mōri-san, Kudō-san, help me and my family". Kogorō and Shin'ichi nodded silently. Both knew the family not only needed a decent amount of sleep, but also help.

A knock from the door, broke the silence, which had fallen over them. "Come in!" Daisuke said. "Dinner is ready, Daisuke." a woman in her late thirties said, standing in the doorway. "Thank you Natsue, Mōri-san and his family will join us for dinner".

Natsue nodded and went along the hall, before she entered another room. "Who is Natsue?" Shin'ichi asked curious. So far, Daisuke hadn't mentioned her name, which made Shin'ichi curious. "She's my wife's younger sister."

"Does she live here in the house too?"

"Yes," Daisuke confirmed, "she moved in here two months ago, because she lost her job and couldn't afford her apartment anymore".

"How do you all get along?"

"Sumiko and Natsue have a typical relationship".

"Are they fighting a lot?"

"Yes and no… they fight like all sisters or siblings do, I guess."

When they entered the dining room, Yamato was already sitting at the table, while Natsue put a pot in the middle of the table. They all sat down, but one seat was still empty. "Where is my wife?" Daisuke asked. "She wanted to take a bath before dinner." Natsue explained.

"Oh yes, I totally forgot to introduce you. Please forgive me. This is my sister-in-law Ito Natsue and the young man is my son Yamato." Daisuke pointed to his sister-in-law and son. "So, you hired a private detective to find the stalker?" Natsue asked. "Yes I did. Hopefully this nightmare is soon over".

While they were waiting, they made small talk. After thirty minutes, Daisuke became restless and got up to look after his wife. "Sumiko! Darling! Dinner is ready and we have guests! Please get out of the bathtub!" they heard Daisuke calling out and knocking on the bathroom door. But he got no response. Daisuke knocked four times, but there was no response either. The others got up from the table and went into the hallway to see, if they could help somehow. "What's wrong Daisuke?" Kogorō asked.

"My wife isn't responding."

"Maybe your wife just enjoyed her relaxing bath and fell asleep." Kogorō suggested chuckling, "After the last four weeks, I think it would be understandable, because the stalking definitely must have taken a toll on her". Daisuke shrugged, "Maybe".

"Have you checked if the door is locked?" Shin'ichi asked. Daisuke then tried to open the door, but it was locked. He knocked again. "Darling, please open the door or say something! I am worried about you!"

Nothing. There was no response from inside the room. "Okay, maybe we should break down the door." Kogorō suggested. He and Tanaka ran with their full force a few times against the door. By the third time, the door gave away and opened; hitting the wall with a loud bang. Warm steam came towards them. After a second, the steam vanished. Daisuke and Kogorō, followed by Shin'ichi, entered the bathroom. When the three came closer to the bathtub, their eyes widened. "Oh my God, Sumiko!" Daisuke cried out and crossed the few steps to the bathtub in record time. He pulled his unconscious wife out of the water and lay her down on the bathroom carpet. "Sumiko! Darling wake up! Can you hear me?! Wake up!" Daisuke roughly shook her, calling her name again and again. But Sumiko didn't wake up. "Ran, call an ambulance! Now!" Kogorō instructed.

"On my way!" Ran hurried down the hall to pick up her phone, which was in her the pocket of her jacket. Shin'ichi knelt down to Sumiko and put his middle and index finger on the side of her neck. He glanced over to Kogorō and shook his head. The older detective nodded, understanding the unspoken words from the teen. Shin'ichi got to his feet and left the room to tell Ran to call the police instead of an ambulance. "Daisuke," Kogorō said, putting his hand on the other man's shoulder and squeezed it gently to offer any possible comfort, "Daisuke she's gone". A few seconds passed, before Daisuke fully understood Kogorō's words. Daisuke began to sniff, tears ran down his cheeks. But Daisuke didn't bother to wipe them away. Kogorō pulled him to his feet. "I'm very sorry," Kogorō said in a sad voice, "but we should go out of the room, until the police will arrive". More or less Kogorō had to drag Daisuke out of the bathroom and into the dining room. "Please don't touch anything, so no evidence will be destroyed. The police will come in a few minutes." the detective instructed everyone.

Yamato and Natsue followed them. Shin'ichi closely observed the reactions of all three family members. While Daisuke was heavily crying, Natsue stood close to the window, but looked as if she couldn't understand Daisuke's reaction at all. Strange, Shin'ichi thought to himself. Maybe their relationship hadn't been as close as Daisuke thought they were. The teen ten looked at the twenty-five year old man, sitting opposite from him. Tears ran down his cheeks, but his sad and shocked distant gaze seemed more like an act instead of a real reaction. The young detective couldn't quite place it. What kind of relationship had Sumiko and Yamato shared? A good one? A bad one? Or something that went beyond of a mother/son-relationship? Shin'ichi made a mental note to check that. His gaze then fell on Ran. A few tears ran down her cheeks too. Although she always tried to act like a cool girl, which could take these sorts of situations well, but underneath her cool façade, she was very sensitive. The teen went over to his best friend. "That's horrible. Poor family. First the stalking and now Sumiko is dead". Ran wiped her tears out of her eyes. Shin'ichi silently nodded.

While everyone was in the dining room, Shin'ichi went back to the bathroom to take a closer look. Since Shin'ichi was born he had hyperthymesia, a rare medical condition, which gave him the ability to remember everything. He remembered everyone, every place he had been or seen on photos, postcards and so on, he forgot nothing. Most of the time, this ability was useful for him, especially at crime scenes. However he wanted to forget the events, he went through, but due to hyperthymesia it wasn't possible.

The teen detective stepped further into the room and went to the bathtub in front of the window. The window was closed and fogged; the floor in front of the bathtub had been dry until Daisuke pulled Sumiko out of the water. Her cloths had been tossed in the cloths basket, before the washing machine. Shin'ichi noticed a crumpled paper on the ground and picked it up. It was a handwritten threatening letter. "You are mine. Leave your husband or else something is going to happen to him." Shin'ichi read aloud. He laid the paper on the shelf, next to Sumiko's rings, watch and necklace. Next to the bathtub, he noticed a small bottle of tequila, which was more than half empty and some pills. When he took a closer look at the pills, he noticed, no pill was missing. Did she really take the pills? Did she want to commit suicide? At first sight Shin'ichi would say yes, but he had the feeling, there was more behind Sumiko's death than just suicide. He doubted it. Something didn't quite fit. It probably should look like she committed suicide, because she couldn't stand the stalking any longer and the threatening letter definitely would confuse and scare her further and that would strengthen the suicide theory, Shin'ichi mused. Another point, that didn't quite fit into the picture, was the missing bathroom key. Shin'ichi looked everywhere, but couldn't find it. So where was it?

Shin'ichi turned around and looked at Sumiko's lifeless body. As far as Shin'ichi could tell, Sumiko wasn't injured; therefore he excluded an accident. But he also couldn't see traces of a fight, only some skin particles were under the nails of her right hand. So Shin'ichi deduced she had been attacked by someone she knew and trusted. Moreover the evidence didn't allow any other conclusion than that Sumiko was killed. But who was the killer?

"Shin'ichi-kun!" a familiar voice said behind the high school student. He turned around and saw Megure Jūzō and Takagi Wataru standing in the doorway. Kogorō was standing before them and grabbed Shin'ichi at his arm. He pushed the teenager out of the bathroom. "Teenagers shouldn't interrupt adults at work! Now go and don't disturbed u!" Kogorō scolded Shin'ichi like always and turned around to Megure and Takagi. The fifteen year old teen didn't go away. He crossed his arms before his chest and silently kept standing in the doorway, observing everyone. Shin'ichi stepped aside, when the coroner arrived to take the first look over Sumiko.

After the first impression of the coroner, the cause of death was drowning, confirming Shin'ichi's assumption. But the coroner couldn't tell yet, if she really took the sleeping pills and drank almost the entire bottle of tequila. He assured the inspector to call him as soon as he had the confirming results. Then the coroner waved to two assistants, which went into the room and laid Sumiko's body on a stretcher

After the coroner took the victim with him to the medical jurisprudence, Megure, Takagi, Kogorō and Shin'ichi went into the dining room, where the others still were. "Alright, please tell me when you have seen Sumiko the last time and what relationship you shared with her." Megure requested. Takagi again pulled out his notebook and pen to record the statements of everyone.

"Sumiko was my second wife…"

"You didn't tell us that, when we talked about the stalking." Shin'ichi interrupted Daisuke. The older man nodded. "Stalking?" Megure asked confused. "Yes Keibu. My wife was stalked for four weeks now and because the police said, they couldn't help us much, I hired Mōri-san to solve the case."

Megure nodded, while Takagi quickly scribbled it into his notebook. "I didn't think this information was important. I married Sumiko eight years ago. My first wife Chikage died of cancer twelve years ago."

"When did Mōri arrive?"

"We arrived at five-thirty." Shin'ichi replied. "When Mōri-san arrived, he, Ran, Shin'ichi and myself, went into my office, where I told them about the stalking. We talked about thirty minutes, until Natsue called us for dinner."

"Is that true?"

"Yes, I started cooking at half past four."

"Why so early? Tanaka-san just stated that you called them at six." Takagi said curious. Natsue nodded. "I knew guests were coming and decided to rather cook something more consuming. That's why I started so early with cooking. And I remember my sister taking a bath at the same time."

"When did she enter the bathroom?"

"I think it was between half past four and twenty to five." Natsue mused.

"Did Sumiko know that guests were coming? It's unusual that someone is taking a bath while guests are there." Takagi asked.

"She knew and she wanted to be out of the bath at quarter past five. But I thought nothing, when she didn't come out. The last few weeks were exhausting for my wife and that's why I thought she didn't necessarily need to be present, when I'd inform Mōri-san about our situation. I thought she needed a relaxing bath."

"Sumiko probably was killed between four-thirty and six-thirty." Shin'ichi concluded. Everyone looked shocked at the fifteen year old teenager.

"Ki –killed? My wife w – was murdered?" Daisuke asked shakily.

"How do you know, she was killed?" Kogorō asked incredulously. "Next to the bathtub were sleeping pills and a tequila bottle. It's pretty clear that she committed suicide". But Shin'ichi wasn't convinced by Kogorō and shook his head. "There is no sleeping pill missing. And how did she do it? Drinking and swallowing sleeping pills, then she waited until she fell asleep and slowly sank into the water… Do you really think it happened this way?"

Everyone looked curious at Shin'ichi. No one knew what to say. By the way, the bathtub was almost completely full of water – I mean as full as the outflow allows it. Wouldn't water splash out of the bathtub and onto the floor, when she sank beneath the surface?"

Megure slowly nodded. "Yes, it could have happened that way." he said thoughtfully. Uncomfortable silence fell upon all of them. Shin'ichi was the first, who broke it by asking Yamato where he had been in the two hours. "I? I helped Natsue cooking." Yamato asked startled by Shin'ichi's question, which made the teen detective suspicious. He slightly narrowed his sapphire blue eyes. "The entire time?"

"No, I was cooking alone for the first thirty minutes, and then Yamato came to help me." Natsue said. "You don't suspect the poor boy, do you? He had lost his mother only two and a half hours ago!" Natsue added shocked. "Don't worry Natsue-san; we have to investigate in all directions." Takagi held his hands in a defending pose.

"What was your relationship with the victim?" Megure asked to get the conversation back to the topic. "Well… um… let's say…"

"It wasn't very good, right? At least, you didn't show any signs of real grieve and sorrow." Shin'ichi said. Natsue looked embarrassed to the ground, shifted with her feet and crossed the arms before her chest. "And?" she said in an annoying voice, "It's true! I hated her!"

"But, why did you move in here, when you hated your sister?" Daisuke asked shocked. "I want to know that too." Kogorō commented. "Since our childhood she got everything she wanted and asked for, in life and from our parents. They praised her, told everyone how perfect she was!" Natsue spat, "And I? I just was the other sister, the younger and dumb sister! The sister, who always got the old cloths and things from Sumiko! No one cared about me, neither my sister nor my parents. I was bullied the entire school time. But then I left my home town and moved here, started a new life in a large company and quickly became one of the senior bosses. But then, nine years ago, I met Daisuke…"

"What?" Kogorō, Takagi and Megure said at the same time. Natsue nodded and continued, "Yes, I met him. We dated a few months and then he proposed." Natsue trailed off again. Daisuke shrank in his chair, avoiding everyone's eye contact. "But a year later, he broke up, because Sumiko somehow managed to clutch the love of my life and married him! Leaving me heartbroken! Then this beast sued the company I was working for and due to the bankruptcy, I lost my job and my apartment."

Natsue paused for a moment, before she continued. "I blackmailed her. I told her, I would tell Daisuke everything I knew about her and that I would make everything, she did in her profession public. So, she let me stay here, until I would find another apartment. I made every day a living hell for her, when no one was around."

"So, you stalked and killed her." Kogorō concluded and pointed at her. "Hey! I didn't say, I killed her! I wanted her to suffer the same pain; I suffered, because of her! But I didn't kill her!" Natsue said angrily. "But you have the best motive!" Kogorō argued.

"And? It doesn't mean I killed her!" Natsue protested loudly.

"What do you think Megure-keibu?"

Megure rubbed his chin absently. Kogorō made very good point and Natsue definitely was the one, who had the best motive for the murder. She definitely was the main suspect in Megure's opinion. "Megure-keibu! The coroner just called." Takagi said.

In the background Shin'ichi heard Takagi telling the inspector, that Sumiko drowned, had traces of sleeping pills in her system, but no alcohol. He also found the skin particles under her nails.

Ron got up from her seat. The entire time, she has been sitting by Daisuke and comforting him in the best way she could. She knew she didn't need to interfere in the investigation, because Shin'ichi and her dad already did it and she was sure, both would solve the case. But she had noticed Shin'ichi's thoughtful expression and followed him out of the room. Maybe she could help him somehow. "Shin'ichi?"

"Huh?" Shin'ichi turned around and stopped for a moment, until Ran was next to him. "Do you really think that she was killed?"

"Unfortunately I do." he replied with a sigh and opened the door they were standing before. "What are you doing? Whose room is it?" Ran asked. She looked a bit uncertain if someone was there, who could see them, and then followed Shin'ichi. "It's Yamato's room."

"Why are you here? What are you looking for?"

"Yamato not really has an alibi for thirty minutes."

"So, the question is what he was doing in this time, right?"

Shin'ichi nodded and looked around. "Do you think we should look in here? I mean, don't we are basically intruding the privacy of someone." Ran said concerned. "We are trying to solve a murder case, Ran." Shin'ichi reminded her and opened one side of the closet. And now everything fell into place for him. "Look at that."

Ran came next to him. As soon as she saw, what Shin'ichi was looking at, her eyes widened and her yaw dropped. "Gosh, what is that?!" Ran said incredulously. In the closet in front of them, was something like an altar – an altar for Sumiko. A large framed picture from Yamato and Sumiko was in the middle, surrounded by smaller pictures, flowers and other things. Shin'ichi picked a sheet up and read it. The handwriting matched the crumpled paper, he found in the bathroom. "He loved her." Ran chocked out.

"Yeah, but obviously not as his step-mother."

"Do you think, Daisuke knows?"

Shin'ichi shook his head. "I don't understand that." Ran admitted. She was confused; her impression of Yamato had changed in the last ten seconds. At first she thought Yamato had a hard life because of his mother's death and now the next great misfortune had overcome Yamato. However, when she now looked at the altar, she felt uncomfortable and shocked. "Why did he stalk her? That makes no sense." she added still in a shocked voice. Shin'ichi shrugged. He intended on looking for something else; namely the bathroom key, which was still missing. But he also was shocked to find out about Yamato's secret love to his step-mother. Shin'ichi had had an uncomfortable feeling towards Yamato as soon as they met, but back then it didn't matter. But now everything was different. "Let's get back to the others." he decided. Ran nodded, relieved that her best friend was her opinion.

Shin'ichi sent Takagi and Tome, a crime scene investigator Shin'ichi often met at a crime scene, into Yamato's room to collect everything. For a moment Shin'ichi just listened to the others talking. Megure and Kogorō still suspected Natsue of being the culprit or at least, of helping Sumiko to kill herself. Then Shin'ichi looked to Yamato, who exchanged a strange look with his aunt.

'…and I would tell Daisuke everything I knew about her…' Natsue's words echoed in Shin'ichi's head. Natsue must have known it.

"I got everything Megure-keibu!" Takagi entered the dining room again. Tome in the meantime brought everything in the room. Megure and Kogorō looked puzzled at the young police officer. "What did you get Takagi?" his superior asked. Takagi looked surprised to Megure and then to Shin'ichi for help. "Um… I asked Takagi to go into Yamato's room." Shin'ichi explained and paused to see Yamato's reaction. As the teen detective expected, Yamato stared shocked at him and the rest of the police officers. "You did what?! This is my room! My privacy! No one is allowed to enter my room without my permission!" Yamato shouted briskly. Everyone, except Ran and Shin'ichi who knew why Yamato was freaking out, looked puzzled at the twenty-five year old man.

"Yamato! Are you out of your mind?! The police officers are just doing their job! Don't you want to know, what happened to Sumiko?" Daisuke scolded his son. "I think he already knows it. Isn't that right, Yamato?"

Everyone looked puzzled between Shin'ichi and Yamato. "What are you talking about? I know nothing. Shouldn't you go play somewhere else and let the adults handle the situation?" Yamato sneered.

"Yamato!"

But Shin'ichi ignored Yamato's comment and his sneering smirk. "How long did you have an affair with Sumiko?" Shin'ichi matter-of-factly asked. His face now was emotionless. No one could tell, what the fifteen year old teen was thinking or feeling. "What?!" everyone shouted surprised and shocked. Especially Daisuke was shocked about the question. "Yamato is that true?!" Daisuke asked angrily. He couldn't believe that his own son had an affair with his wife. A cold shiver went down Daisuke's spine. He couldn't bear the imagination that his wife and son made love. In his opinion it was disgusting.

Mōri started laughing. "What movies are you watching? Sumiko was Yamato's step-mother."

"And?"

"And he had no motive at all. By the way, if you haven't listened ago, Natsue has a perfect motive-"

"But she has a perfect alibi." Shin'ichi protested. Kogorō only dismissed Shin'ichi's protest. Megure, however, looked thoughtful. "Hm, that's true Mōri." the inspector agreed.

"Takagi-keiji, what did you find, when you looked around in Yamato's room?" Shin'ichi asked the young police officer to get the conversation back into the right direction. At first Takagi looked curious, but then nodded, understanding what the teen wanted. "Ah yes, I found an altar in Yamato's closet."

That was enough to silence everyone. They all stared at the officer. "Are you sure Takagi-keiji?" Megure wanted to know. Takagi nodded in confirmation. "Yes I am. We found several photos with Sumiko and Yamato, flowers, jewelry, Pralines and…"

"And a sheet of paper, which states – I quote – 'My dear Sumiko, we belong together. Let's start our new life, after my dad is out of the way'. It's the same handwriting as on the sheet we found on the bathroom floor. Obviously Sumiko didn't want to leave her husband. Right?" Shin'ichi paused only for a moment. "You fell in love with her during your affair, but I guess, Sumiko wanted to end your affair, because she still loved her husband. You became obsessed of her and started stalking her. After your threat, in which you told her, you would kill Daisuke, if she didn't leave him, Sumiko wanted to tell Daisuke everything. I guess she knew all the time, that her stalker was you. But she didn't say a word out of fear. Then you decided to kill her. You followed her into the bathroom, gave her sleeping pills and filled the bathtub half full. Then you laid her in the bathtub and filled the bathtub as far as it was possible. You didn't realize that no sleeping pills you laid next to her, so it would look like a suicide, were missing. You emptied the tequila bottle almost completely and put it next to the sleeping pills. Then you left the room and locked the door, with the key."

"Yamato, say the truth. Is everything he says right?" Daisuke asked. He was still shocked that his son was the main suspect now. Yamato however huffed and started laughing. "You have a wild imagination my friend. Yes, it's true. Sumiko and I had an affair for one and a half years. But four weeks ago, she broke up with me; told me she still loved my old man. I tried everything to get her back, but it didn't work. But that is no evidence that I am the culprit. You have to prove it! You won't find any trace from me!"

Shin'ichi now smirked. "We found the threatening letter on the bathroom floor and it has your handwriting on it. We have the altar to prove, Sumiko was more for you than just a surrogate mother, we found little skin particles from her culprit and we didn't found the bathroom key yet. But it has to be somewhere near you; your trouser pocket, maybe. Of course we would find your fingerprints in the bath, you use it every day, like Daisuke and Natsue do. But—"

"Megure-keibu, I found something interesting in the suspect's room." Tome interrupted and went to the others. "Let me see." Megure instructed. Tome showed Megure a translucent plastic bag with black gloves in it. "Gloves. The best way to avoid fingerprints on the tequila bottle. But you can't hide the scratches, you got from Sumiko."

"Please let me see your bare arms." Megure demanded in a firm voice. Yamato shifted under the stars from everyone from one foot to the other. "Um… I… was too clumsy and hurt myself during cooking." Yamato stuttered nervously. „Bullshit!" Natsue huffed, grabbed his arms and rolled the sleeves of his shirt up. There were some fresh scratches on his right forearm.

"You! What have you done! You aren't my son!" Daisuke yelled in rage. Kogorō and Takagi had to hold Daisuke back. The man was furious and tried to get to Yamato. Yamato fell onto his knees. Some tears ran down his face. "I loved her… and I didn't want to let her go… she was my great love…" Yamato stuttered in a low voice. "Yes! Yeas, I did it! I killed her! I did it like you said. You figured every detail out. Complement. I knew Natsue hated Sumiko…"

"It was easy to make Natsue the perfect suspect." Kogorō finished. Yamato only nodded. Takagi pulled Yamato to his feet and handcuffed him. "Tanaka Yamato, you are under arrest." he informed the young man.

Megure and Takagi said their goodbyes a few minutes later. They took Yamato to the police station to get his full statement. Ran, Kogorō and Shin'ichi also said their goodbyes and wished Daisuke good luck. The drive home was silent. Everyone was still shocked about the whole event and was lost in their own thoughts. When the cab stopped in front of the detective agency, they got out and parted ways. It was now pretty late and everyone was tired. Luckily it was still weekend and they could enjoy two relaxing days until the new week would start.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for reading/ reviewing/ following and/or favoring!**

 **Elliechii: Thanks and no, Shin'ichi won't turn into Conan. There will be other things ;)**

 **Used Japanese words:**

 **Nani – what**

 **Ba'rō (Shin'ichi's version of Baka, the short form for Baka-yarō) – idiot**

 **Deai** **– Encounter**

 **Now on tot the chapter. Enjoy reading ;)**

出会い

(Encounters)

Hattori Heiji mentally cursed and paused. He visited Tōkyō for the first time and got lost a few times. The kendo team of his school would participate in the kendo tournament at Teitan High School. That's why he was in Tōkyō. But there was another reason for him, visiting Japan's capitol: Kudō Shin'ichi. He had heard a couple of things about the 'Heisei Holmes'; however, he wanted to make up his own opinion by meeting his fellow detective personally. And the kendo tournament offered the opportunity to do so. Heiji went to Tōkyō a day before the team would arrive. They would bring his kendo gear, so he didn't need to drag it with him the entire time.

On the train, Heiji used the time for doing some research of his fellow detective. But he quickly found out, that there wasn't much of Kudō Shin'ichi. He found out that Shin'ichi's sixteenth birthday was yesterday and that he lived separated from his parents. He also managed to find a few old articles in boulevard magazines and newspapers from ten years ago, stating that the six year old Shin'ichi mysteriously went missing. In the article Heiji read, was reporting that one of the neighbors found Amutako Naoko, the twenty-five year old Nanny of Shin'ichi, lying dead in the open front door, while the six year old boy was missing. Especially the first few weeks, the news and boulevard magazines were full with speculation about the incident and the story behind it, but none speculation was officially confirmed by the police or the parents. Then it seemed as if everything quieted down, because the news reports about the missing preschooler became less and rare. The first article Heiji found, stating the rescue of Shin'ichi was until four years ago. According to the article, the police had followed a trace and managed to find the boy after a six-year-search. However, the article didn't report under what circumstances and condition the police found the boy and what was behind the fact. This confused Heiji even further and he didn't know what to think about it or about his fellow detective colleague. The newer reports Heiji found, mostly contained different cases, Shin'ichi solved over the last three years.

"Dammit!" Heiji cursed, when he realized he was standing in a dead end. He turned around and walked the few feet back until he came out of the dead end. "Hey!"

Heiji saw a biker passing an older woman and ripping the woman's purse out of her hand in just a few seconds. Everything happened so fast, there was no time to react. The woman fell to the ground. Heiji quickly crossed the street, while the biker fled on his bicycle. "Are you alright? Do you need an ambulance?" the teen asked. The older woman shook her head. Heiji gave her a quick nod and followed the biker, who was on the corner of the street by now.

"Hey purse snatcher! Stop!"

Heiji yelled, but the biker ignored him. It wasn't easy to run behind a biker with a full packed bag, but Heiji managed to get closer.

"Wait! I said wait!" Heiji yelled, but again and again, the biker was ignoring him. The biker almost collided with two teens, which walked along the sidewalk, happily chatting. Luckily they managed to jump out of the way, before the biker could collide with them.

"Sorry!" Heiji shouted over his shoulder, after he passed the two teens. When Heiji turned his head to the front again, he almost fell onto the biker, who was now lying on the ground, a soccer ball rolling next to him. Fortunately Heiji kept his balance and waved at a nearing patrol car. The car stopped and a young uniformed police officer got out. "Hi, this man stole…"

"…a purse." finished the young officer Heiji's explanation. The teen detective nodded. "The owner of the purse asked a passing man if he could call the police, because her purse was stolen and a nice teenager was chasing him." the officer explained. While her partner handcuffed the thief, she looked at the two teens, which were standing a few steps away. "Did you see anything?" she asked them. But both shook their hands. "No, we just walked home from school and the biker and the other teen almost collided with us." the girl explained. "The other teen shouted the biker was a thief and I thought the thief shouldn't escape, so I just kicked my soccer, which hit the biker and he fell off of his bike. And then you came." the boy added. The young police officer nodded. "Okay, you can go, if you want. If I have any other questions, I will contact you." she said. Her partner and Heiji looked surprised at the police officer. Shouldn't she write down the other teens' names and addresses? "Yumi, you let the two go?" her partner asked still surprised. Yumi nodded. "Yeah, I know the two very well." Yumi answered in a cheery voice and waved when she saw the two teens leave the scene. "Hey, you are a traffic police officer! You aren't allowed to arrest me for theft!" the thief protested as soon as he noticed the two police officers usually handled the traffic on Tōkyō's streets. Yumi raised her right index finger. "Tsk, tsk, tsk… Don't you remember that you just broke several traffic laws?"

"No way! I wasn't driving a car!"

"Doesn't matter, you were riding a bike, which means you are taking an active part in traffic. We will hand you to our colleagues, who will deal with your theft." Yumi's partner said and took him into their patrol car. Yumi then wrote Heiji's name down in her note book, thanked him for his help and told him, he could go.

Ten minutes later, Heiji finally arrived at the detective agency. He went upstairs and knocked on the door. He could hear snoring out of the room, which confused Heiji. He looked at the sign next to the door to confirm that this really was the detective agency. After a moment there was no response. The teen knocked again, but there was no response again. Heiji then tried to open the door and was surprised when it worked. He took a few steps into the room and looked around. There were two sofas standing opposite of each other and a coffee table was between them. On the windows were white letters, which read Mōri Detective Agency outside. A desk stood before the windows, which wasn't cleaned. Empty beer cans lay on the desk, a TV, which stood in the right corner of the desk was on and showed a TV show Heiji didn't recognize. Sitting on the desk was Mōri Kogorō – at least Heiji assumed it was the detective. His right elbow was on the desk and he supported his head in his right hand. Heiji didn't know what to do. Should he wake the man up? Should he just go or leave a note? Heiji turned around and noticed a second door for the first time, which led to a small kitchen, which was probably used for offering his clients something to drink. Heiji however doubted that the man actually had any clients.

"Who are you?" a girl asked next to Heiji. She was standing in the doorway and suspiciously looked at him. Heiji immediately recognized the girl from before. He had encountered her at the scene. "My name is Hattori Heiji. I am a high school detective from Osaka and I am looking for Kudō Shin'ichi." Heiji answered. The girl nodded and went crossed the way. She went into the kitchen to get a trash bag and put the empty beer cans in the bag. "I am Ran and this is my father Mōri Kogorō." she introduced them. "Why are you looking for Shin'ichi? And why are you thinking he is here?"

"Well-" Heiji rubbed the back of his neck, while thinking for his answer. "I actually wanted to challenge Shin'ichi, because I…"

"Challenge Shin'ichi? Why?" Ran sharply asked. Heiji immediately raised his hands in a defensive position. "You see, the press is always comparing us and I wanted to know…"

"Wanted to know…?"

"… if Shin'ichi is worth mentioning in the same sentence as me."

Ran darkly glared at Heiji, which made the teen uncomfortable. But she said nothing. Heiji swallowed and then continued, "That's all. When I have found my answers I will be gone – at least I will be gone tomorrow evening, after the kendo tournament."

"You are participating?"

Heiji nodded; grateful that Ran's tone wasn't threatening and her eyes softened. "And to answer your second question; a girl named Suzuki Sonoko told me I would find Shin'ichi at his girlfriends' apartment."

"WE AREN'T A COUPLE!" Ran and Shin'ichi, who entered the agency, shouted at the same time. "Hey, that's what she said." Heiji defended himself. From the shouting Kogorō woke up and looked around. "Who's someone's girlfriend?" he asked curious. Everyone looked at Kogorō, who then fixated his gaze on Heiji. "Who are you?"

Heiji again introduced himself, then put his bag down and pulled a bottle with a translucent liquid inside, out. "What's that?"

"That's just a present from me. It's Chinese liquor."

Heiji put the bottle on the desk before Kogorō.

Suddenly they heard several knocks on the door. A middle-aged woman stood in the door and didn't look very happy. "What kind of agency is this?" she asked with her rough voice, "I knocked the last ten minutes onto the door without being noticed. When you don't need a client, maybe I should go to another detective agency".

"No, no, no… I am Mōri Kogorō, the best detective in this city. How can I help you Ms.?" Kogorō said, jumping up from his chair and quickly crossed the distance.

Unfortunately for Kogorō Tsujimura Kimie only hired him to have an alibi for the murder she committed against her husband. At first her husband's old father was Heiji's suspect. But in the end Shin'ichi was the one who solved the case and found the right killer.

Now Heiji and Shin'ichi were walking along the street to Shin'ichi's house. An uncomfortable silence fell over the two detectives. Neither of them knew what to say to the other. Heiji cleared his throat. "I – I have to admit you are the better detective of us." Heiji said sighing heavily. "Only one truth prevails."

"Huh?" Heiji looked curious at Shin'ichi. "It doesn't matter who is solving the case, because there is always just one truth. And a detective's job is to discover it." Shin'ichi explained. Heiji was stunned and speechless. He hadn't expected that. Shin'ichi's words got him to think about the reason he became a high school detective. "And for the record," Shin'ichi added a moment later, "aren't a bad detective either. Maybe more impulsive… but very competent".

"You think so?" Heiji didn't know if he should trust his ears. Shin'ichi only nodded then stopped. Heiji looked surprised at Shin'ichi.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Shin'ichi shrugged, "Just home".

"Oh"

Then Heiji turned his head to the right. His eyes widened. The Osakan teen didn't know what he expected, but of course, he should have expected a large house; after all Shin'ichi's parents were a part of Japan's high society.

"You – you live he – here?" Heiji chocked out.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just asking."

Both boys went inside. Heiji couldn't help, but be stunned. Each was large, bright and friendly and well decorated. Shin'ichi's parents had a very good, but expensive taste. But Heiji figured they could afford it. He followed Shin'ichi into the first floor and then down a hall, until Shin'ichi stopped in front of a door. "One of our guest rooms." Shin'ichi said casually and opened the door. Like all other rooms, Heiji had seen, it was large and well decorated. "If you need anything, my room is on the second floor, the double door on the right." Shin'ichi said, before exiting the room. Also Shin'ichi couldn't see it, Heiji nodded.

The tanned detective sat down and looked at his hands, answering one missed SMS after the other. Then he went into the bathroom and quickly showered. Heiji thought about how to ask Shin'ichi about his past, but wasn't sure if he actually should do that, because they barely knew each other. And whatever it was or rather whatever Shin'ichi went through, Heiji was sure, wasn't a simple story. However, Heiji decided against the idea. Maybe if they knew each other better, he could bring this topic up. But for now Heiji wanted to enjoy Shin'ichi's company and host, because he liked the fellow detective.

Forty minutes later, Heiji went downstairs and found Shin'ichi in the kitchen. "That smells good." Heiji said. Only now, Heiji realized how hungry he was.

"It is really delicious." Heiji said a few moments later, after he tasted the first bite. "Thanks."

"Who taught you to cook?"

"My dad and Ran."

"At home my Mom is usually cooking."

"Gosh, my Mom can't cook. But in comparison to Ran's mom, she definitely is the better cook." Shin'ichi chuckled. Heiji laughed out loud.

They ate in comfortable silence, quickly cleaned the dishes after dinner and then went into the living room. They played a few board games while watching TV. They talked about recent murder cases, their friends, school, sports and other things. While talking and playing the two teen detectives realized, they had a few things in common. Neither of them looked at the time and was surprised, when they saw how late it actually became.

Only in the guest room Heiji looked at his watch; it read half past one. Heiji had no idea, how they could easily forget time, while enjoying themselves. He changed into his pajamas and went into the bathroom, but now saw, that he forgot his toothbrush. Heiji cursed. How could he forget? For a moment, he thought about just going to bed. But what should he do in the morning? He couldn't go to a tournament without brushed teeth. It was unhygienic.

The Osakan teen went upstairs to ask Shin'ichi if he had another unused toothbrush. Heiji knocked on the door, but didn't get a response. Maybe Shin'ichi was already sleeping. But before Heiji decided to go back into his room, he heard water running and knocked again. Also he got no response; he opened the door and hesitantly went inside.

Shin'ichi's room was – like all other rooms – large, bright and friendly. Diagonally across the room, under the roof window stood the large bed. On the wall next to the door, was a sofa, a coffee table, two chairs and a large flat TV. A stereo and boxes were hanging a few inches away. Next to the two large windows hung large curtains on each side of the window, which swept the ground. Almost the entire other side was a glass wall. But there were two steps, which led down to a half circled place, where Shin'ichi's desk was. Heiji could see several school books lay open on the desk. A shelf hung over the desk. He guessed the rest of the school and exercise books, along with other personal papers, were in the shelf. A few shelves were standing on the wall, where books and other things like framed photos or souvenirs from vacation were in. A soccer ball lay in one of the shelves. Heiji unwillingly grinned, when he thought back at how Shin'ichi stopped the thief.

He then noticed two more doors. One was several inches next to the double doors. Heiji took a quick glance inside the small room, which turned out to be a small dressing room. From the other room, where the sound of water was coming from, was the bathroom. Heiji went over to the door, but stopped, when he saw, the door wasn't entirely closed. He went a few steps to the left, though Shin'ichi wouldn't notice someone was here, but Heiji was nonetheless able to see through the small slit. When Shin'ichi stepped out of the shower and dried himself, Heiji had to suppress a gasp in order not to be caught by Shin'ichi. Heiji was shocked to see the terrible and deep scars on Shin'ichi's back and chest. It was clear to Heiji, that the scars weren't a result of a tragic accident. Heiji would bet the scars were related to the six years in which Shin'ichi had been missing. Heiji was confused and curious, but also he was concerned of his new friend (at least Heiji would call Shin'ichi a friend, although they didn't know each other for long) and he didn't know what to do now. He wished, he had asked Shin'ichi during the evening, but now it was too late.

"You need anything?"

"W – What?"

"Do you need anything?" Shin'ichi asked curious. He now wore his pajama. Under his tanned skin, Heiji's cheeks slightly reddened. He had been so focused on his thoughts that he hadn't noticed Shin'ichi exiting his bathroom. "I forgot my toothbrush." Heiji admitted trying to hide his embarrassment. Shin'ichi nodded, went into the bathroom and came out a moment later. He handed Heiji a new toothbrush, which wasn't used yet. "Thanks."

"Anything else?"

"No, thanks. You helped a lot. Good night." Heiji answered and turned around.

"Good night."

Heiji went back to his room, brushed his teeth and then went to bed. Before he switched of the light, he set up his alarm clock.

The next morning Heiji felt tired. He hadn't caught much sleep. It wasn't because of the strange bed or room he was in; it was because Heiji thought a long time about Shin'ichi. He fell asleep around three in the morning.

„Ohayō." Heiji mumbled when he entered the kitchen.

"Mhm" Shin'ichi only mumbled. While reading the newspaper, he drank his coffee. "Do you drink coffee or tea?" Shin'ichi asked after a moment without taking his eyes off of the newspaper. "Coffee." Heiji answered. Shin'ichi pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. "Cups or there." he only said. Heiji nodded, although Shin'ichi didn't see it and took a coffee mug out of the cupboard Shin'ichi had pointed to. With his full cup, Heiji sat down opposite from Shin'ichi. "Is that the newspaper from today?"

Shin'ichi nodded and handed Heiji the half, which Shin'ichi has already read. It was silent for a couple of minutes, while they were reading. But this time it wasn't an uncomfortable silence.

"Aren't you eating anything in the morning?" Heiji asked after several minutes. "No, usually not. But if you want something to eat, there are a lot of things in the fridge. Just help yourself."

Heiji got up and made himself something to eat.

After breakfast both got ready, then left the residence and met up with Ran and Sonoko. At school, Heiji went to his kendo team, which was standing by their bus. "See you later!" Ran, Sonoko and Shin'ichi called out. Heiji nodded and waved back. "Bet you are jealous, because you have to go to classes instead!" the western detective shouted back.

While Heiji trained for the tournament with his team in the gym, where teachers and a couple of students prepared everything for the tournament, Shin'ichi, Ran and Sonoko went to their classroom. Of course, everyone wanted to be in the gym watching the tournament instead of having several classes.

As soon as the bell announced lunch time, Ran, Shin'ichi and Sonoko threw their books into their bags and hastily left the classroom. They went to the gym and looked for Heiji.

The tournament went well and in the end Teitan's kendo team placed second after Heiji's team, which placed first. After the presentation ceremony, it took another hour until the team from Osaka was ready and got into the bus. Heiji said goodbye to his new friends, exchanged numbers to hold contact and made Shin'ichi to promise, he would come to Osaka soon.

They started walking home after the bus left the parking lot.

"How about Saturday?"

"Nani?"

"You know… Tropical Land… What do you think about Saturday?"

"Hm…" Ran thought for a moment, "alright, Saturday."

"Hey! Ran you have a date with your husband on Saturday and didn't tell me about it?!" Sonoko said shocked.

"Sonoko! Stop it!" Ran said.

"Ba'rō! That's not a date! That was just a promise!" Shin'ichi promptly replied. Sonoko laughed. "You should have seen your faces!" she cried out, still heavily laughing. Ran and Shin'ichi exchanged a look, but quickly broke eye contact, when they saw the other one blushing. Inwardly all three knew, it was meant to be a date, but neither Ran nor Shin'ichi wanted to admit it.

On Saturday, Shin'ichi and Ran met early in the morning and went to Tropical Land, an amusement park in Beika. There weren't many people, when they arrived at the park's entrance and quickly bought two tickets. The queues on most rides weren't very all at this time. Therefore Shin'ichi and Ran didn't need to wait long before it was their turn. At about ten to eleven, the park filled with more people and the queues became longer. But Shin'ichi and Ran didn't mind; they had enough time and wanted to enjoy the day.

They ate lunch in one of the many restaurants. After lunch they watched dinosaurs, went riding rollercoasters again and after that, Shin'ichi took Ran to the colorful circled place, where water column encircled them. "Oh, Shin'ichi look, a rainbow!" Ran said stunned. Both looked for a moment at the rainbow over them. But then Shin'ichi handed Ran a can of coke. "Congratulation to winning the city championship." he congratulated her and both clicked their cokes.

After about five minutes the water column faded and both teens left the place again. "Hey, can we go to the mystery coaster? The queue isn't very long." Ran asked and pointed to the rollercoaster which they were passing. "Are you sure?" Shin'ichi asked suspiciously, knowing full well that Ran was scared of ghosts. But she nodded and pulled Shin'ichi over to the queue. While they were waiting in the queue, Shin'ichi looked around and saw three familiar faces. The three preschoolers, who they passed now and then on their way to school, obviously didn't want to wait in the queue and tried to sneak into the mystery coaster. Children, Shin'ichi thought. I'm glad I passed that age.

"Hey out of the way!" a rough voice commanded. Shin'ichi looked over his shoulder and saw two men dressed in black, who roughly pushed people out of the way to get further forward in the line. The one was tall, slim and had hip-length blonde hair, which he wore open. He wore a black suit under his black coat and a black hat. The man's ice blue eyes let Shin'ichi shiver. Somehow Shin'ichi's stomach tightened and he felt very uncomfortable, although he couldn't tell why. His partner also wore a black suit and a black hat like his partner. He also wore sunglasses and carried a briefcase in his left hand.

Strange, Shin'ichi thought, with those cloths you definitely wouldn't go to an amusement park. The briefcase would indicate they weren't here for fun. But doing business here? Very strange. And the blonde man's gaze was the ice-cold gaze of a cold-blooded killer, whom you certainly wouldn't want to cross. Shin'ichi was certain the man has already killed several times.

"Shin'ichi!" Ran yanked the teen detective out of his thoughts. He turned his attention back to his childhood friend. "Nani?"

"The queue. It's our turn." Ran pointed out. Both climbed into the waiting cart and a moment later, the rollercoaster started. During the ride, Ran squeezed Shin'ichi's hand, when she was startled. Shin'ichi didn't mind. In one of the tunnels, he felt something wet on his forehead, but wiped it dismissively away. When the ride was almost at the end, they heard a loud and shrill scream. Shin'ichi tried to look over his shoulder, but the security bar made it impossible for him. But as soon as the ride was over and the security bars went up, so they could get out of the cart, Shin'ichi turned around. Ran also turned around and gasped in shock. The man behind them died. To say, it wasn't a pretty sight, was clearly an understatement. Ran quickly squeezed Shin'ichi's hand; this time harder than before and tightly closed her eyes.

Someone from the bystanders called the police, which arrived not long after the call. While the police took a first look at the compartment and questioned the people, who were sitting in the same compartment as the victim, Shin'ichi looked around the mystery coaster.

"Hey do you hear that?"

"I hear it too, Genta. It's the police. They are coming for us!"

"Oh come on, don't be so afraid, Mitsuhiko."

"Sneaking in, huh?"

The three preschoolers flinched, when they heard Shin'ichi's voice. They turned around and looked to their feet in embarrassment. The young girl looked up to see, who was talking to them and when she realized who stood before her, she looked shocked and surprised at the same time. She pointed her index finger at Shin'ichi. "I know you! I saw you on TV! You are the teen detective!"

"Yeah, at your service." Shin'ichi answered and bent down to be at the same eye level as the other kids. "Are we in trouble?" Mitsuhiko, the taller boy asked nervous. Shin'ichi briefly shook his head, because his attention was on a small ball, which held the girl in her hand. "Did the police come for us?"

"Genta, he said we aren't in trouble." Mitsuhiko explained.

"What's that?"

"Hm? Oh, I found this."

"Can I see?"

"Yes… I – I am Ayumi."

"Nice name. Can you show me, where exactly you found this Ayumi?"

Ayumi nodded and together the four walked back to the place, where Ayumi found the little ball, which turned out to be a pearl from a necklace, Shin'ichi had noticed on a young woman, who also was in the cart with the victim.

"Hey Keibu! It is clear we have nothing to do with this case! We are in a hurry, so let us go!" the blond man said to Megure in a commanding tone. "Not so quick!" Shin'ichi said, getting the attention from everyone around. "What do you mean Kudō?" Megure asked.

"Kudō? It's him!" the broad man with the sunglasses said to his partner, but the blonde man didn't respond. All people around them whispered and mumbled to each other. Shin'ichi ignored it. "Here you are! Where have you been? I was looking for you!" Ran came to Shin'ichi, but he didn't answer her. Instead he explained and demonstrated Megure how the young woman, who wasn't a suspect at this point of investigation, killed the victim.

Ran was still crying when they walked to the exit. The reason, why the young woman killed the victim, made Ran sad. "Come on Ran, stop crying."

"How can you be so calm? Doesn't it affect you?"

"Sure it does. But I saw worse. As a detective, I can't let it affect me. Otherwise I couldn't do this job."

"Baka! I am not a detective!" Ran cried out sharply. "That wasn't what I wanted to say…" Shin'ichi held his hands up in a defeated position, "I just wanted to say, that you shouldn't let it affect you in the long run. Do you know what I mean?"

Ran slowly nodded. She understood, what her best friend wanted to tell her; but it was easier said than done. The two men in black rushed past the two teens. Shin'ichi had a suspicious feeling that the men were up to something. Would they dare commit a crime, while police officers were still around? Although Shin'ichi would have said, they wouldn't dare, he wasn't sure. "Wait here! I am right back!" Shin'ichi yelled over his shoulder and waved at Ran. At first Ran was perplexed and couldn't answer. She didn't understand what was going on or where her friend was going.

Ran suddenly felt strange. There was a pain in her heart – no physical pain – but something didn't feel right. She somehow felt as, if she was going to see Shin'ichi never again. Without thinking what she was doing, Ran went into the direction Shin'ichi ran into. At first she walked slowly, but then started running. She hoped nothing would happen to Shin'ichi. Ran soon was behind the Ferris and could hear some voices, which became more and more distant. When she rounded the corner, she saw the two men in black from before rush away. She stayed behind the corner, until she couldn't see the men anymore and then stepped forward. She looked around, but saw no one.

"Shin'ichi?! Are you here?! This isn't funny!" she said loudly. This situation and her bad feeling were a bit scary. She didn't get a response from her friend and the concern for Shin'ichi only grew.

"Hey you!" a female voice called out to her. At first Ran neither moved nor registered the woman, who was coming closer to her. "Hey girl!"

"W – What?" Ran chocked out.

A young woman, who was about six years older than Ran, stood before her. "C – Can I help you somehow?" Ran managed to ask in a steady voice. She didn't want a strange woman know, that she might be a bit scared because her best friend, suddenly disappeared. "Actually yes." the woman answered, "You are a close friend of Kudō Shin'ichi, right?"

Ran nodded. Only now, she noticed the sweet little girl, which was peacefully asleep on the woman's arm. Was she the girl's mother? Or another relative? Maybe the two men threatened her and now she ought Shin'ichi's help. But before Ran could ask a question, the woman handed the girl to Ran. "Bring Sayuri to Shin'ichi! I can't take care of her anymore. She shouldn't live such a live." she instructed a shocked and confused Ran. Without waiting for a response from the teenage girl, the woman turned around, walked a few steps away, then paused and turned around once more. "Tell him, they don't know about her! Don't call the police and don't try to find me!" she instructed further. Ran was still too shocked to answer. She could see some tears running down the woman's cheeks. She wordlessly turned around again and run. "Wait! Don't run! We will help you! We can help you!" Ran shouted after the woman, but was ignored. If she wouldn't have had the sleeping girl in her arms, she would have run after the woman. But with the girl it wasn't possible.

"Who's that?" a familiar voice asked suddenly next to Ran, which finally let her stupor vanish. Ran turned her head and met the azure blue eyes of Shin'ichi, who looked confused at Ran and the little girl.

 **Next chapter you will know more about Sayuri. Please leave a review ;)**


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